...In a democracy all people should be able to have their say in one way or another in everything that affects their lives . A) What was the role of Cleisthenes in the founding of democracy ? B) Describe the similarities and differences between a democratic citizen in Ancient Athens and a democratic citizen in the present day’s Malta . C) Which democracy would you rather live in ? Why ? Cleisthenes was responsible for introducing the system of democracy in Athens, thus, earning him the name, “the father of Athenian democracy. Cleisthenes believed that all citizens should have equal rights he made all the citizens of Athens his companions, in order for them to participate in governmental affairs. Cleisthenes felt it was unfair that only a small group of aristocrats were allowed to participate in the government and since all of the citizens were now his companions; this broke the regional power of the aristocracy. However, this move of making all the Athenians his companion did not sit well with everyone, particularly the archon Isagoras, who decided to start the process to have Cleisthenes exiled. Isagoras’ plan to have Cleisthenes exiled worked for a while, as he was exiled, which was attributed to a “curse”, but many of the citizens who believed in what Cleisthenes was doing, rebelled against his being exiled and he was returned. Upon Cleisthenes' return, he was even more determined to reform Athens and his next move was to break up the power of nobility i.e. the four traditional...
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...it. With Philosophy comes questions, with questions come many great answers that impact societies and even the earth. I want to study how Greece’s political economy impacted philosophic thinkers and people alike. In order to help readers understand whether or not outside forces like society’s political economy impacts deeper thinking like philosophy I will dive deep into Athenian Democracy, documents certain philosophers wrote in the day and time in which they lived, and even look into some other people of the time who had strong opinions on what exactly was going on them. Philosophy impacted more than most people think and I am sure in my research I will be able to back that up with primary sources to prove my argument. In writing this research paper I will be exploring the political economy of Classical Greece between 510 – 323 BCE. In addition, the geographic region I will be diving into will be Athens, Greece. I chose this mainly to enlighten myself (and hopefully the readers) on Athenian Democracy. In doing this I plan to ride the historical roller coaster in the time that Athenian Democracy first set its teeth into the minds of the people who lived in that era. Once establishing a good sense of the...
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...the golden age of Athens and was the height of their control and influence in their world. Athens was a polis on the Balkan Peninsula. It ruled through direct democracy and had a strong navy. Pericles led them into their golden age and strengthened Athens as an empire. A golden age is the time where an empire has the largest stretching influence and the highest capability to extend their intellectual, philosophical and political ideas. Their golden age took place between the Persian Wars and Peloponnesian Wars, since this was their greatest time of achievement with their spreading ideas. Topic Sentences Topic sentence #1: This time period displays Athens at their highest...
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...purpose. The essays are centred on Greece. Particular emphasis is placed on the states of Athens and Sparta. The aim of the essays is to show the contributions that Greek states made to the modern world. The world has learnt a lot of aspects from Greece, being they direct or indirect. One of the things that Greece brought to the world is the democratic system of government. Together with lessons from ancient Rome the world has learned much. Essay1: Differences in terrain and climatic conditions between Athens and Sparta Greece has many cities and towns, however probably the main ones in ancient times were Sparta and Athens. These two cities shaped the political life and history of Greece for quite a long time. The influence mainly centred on land and agriculture. For, about 90% of Greece production was agricultural in nature, with grain production as the dominant area. Incidentally, grain was a staple product and food of Greece. As a result the land that was used for grain production was a vital part of wealth and a valuable asset, for which citizens compete for. This essay is going to explore the difference in terrain between Athens and Sparta and how it affected agriculture and political rights, including democracy as well as how agricultural production had an impact on the distribution of political rights and the powers invested in various category of the Greek populace. Athens has many hills and rocky soils. This means that it has many slopes and up land. The land is...
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...the idea of democracy in the Age of Pericles was designed to strengthen Athens, its weaknesses ultimately led to its inevitable termination. This thesis will be defended by showing that democracy denied morals and ethics, examining the weakness in the system of democracy, and demonstrating a flawed system. Democracy has not worked in the past because although it holds up its idea of justice, it denies the basic morals and ethics of human rights. “Think not of life and children first, and justice afterward, but of justice first” (Document 2), is the message that was set out by the laws of democracy. These same laws are what failed Socrates in the end. He was a “victim, not of the laws, but of men” (Document 2). In the end, it was the laws set up by humans themselves that truly brought out the worst qualities in human nature. While philosophy focused on the rights of man, democracy focused on the rights to govern man. In order to create a form of government that benefited the people as well as morals and ethics, “a love of truth and hatred for falsehood that will not tolerate untruth in any form” (Document 3) was needed. According to Socrates, “there is nothing more closely akin to wisdom than truth. So the same nature cannot love wisdom and falsehood” (Document 3). The problem with democracy is that it denies truth in order to justify its means. Referring back to the example of Socrates, who was failed under the system of democracy, it is seen that although democracy justified...
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...Was Ancient Athens Truly Democratic? The word “democracy” comes from the Greek word “demokratia” which means a direct democracy. The government in Athens consisted of three groups, the “ The Ekklesia”, “The Boule”, and finally The Dikasteria. During the 4th century the Athenians wondered what was a true “democracy”? In my point of view the Athenian people were NOT TRULY democratic. First off, the Ekklesia was an assembly of men in Athens that had 2 years of military experience.The role of the assembly were to elect officials and to declare wars. The Boule where just a group of people in charge to take care of daily things in the city. Lastly, the Dikasteria were a court of citizens that argued about certain cases in Athens. During the time only 12 percent of the population of 240,235 people were allowed to vote. That percentage alone was about 29,900 men. It only makes it worse considering that women, children, and even slaves weren’t allowed to vote. Even the 25,775 Metics couldn’t vote even if they came from other parts of Greece....
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...2 It is believed that the Greeks migrated toward Greece beginning in the late third millennium BCE. They migrated because of the climate and because it had good soil for agriculture, as well as having live stock and generally warm weather. They also started an early form of direct democracy. This new form of democracy was known as a direct democracy which basically meant that the people have a direct say in their government unlike the democracy we have today in america, which sends our votes to the electoral college to be counted and then based on those votes the decision is finally decided by the electoral college. Greece however created a system where everyone was heard, there was no middle...
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...Classical Age: Historical Inquiry: Athens vs. Sparta Research Template: (Please complete the template below in order to complete the questions at the end of the document) General Resources: For each concept below, provide a one to two sentence summary of each key resource. LINK: http://tinyurl.com/kv9gr2h General Resources: Greek Citizenship: Since Greece was not a unified country traditions and laws about citizenship varied. In most city-states, male citizens were involved in such shared civic responsibilities as jury duty or military service in time of war. Every polis had resident aliens, foreign merchants, and others, and on occasion, those people would be made citizens; however, that eventuality was rare. Some women might’ve...
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...The ideas and creations that continue to be used in modern society demonstrate how inspiring the Ancient Greeks were. Greece is a series of islands, known as an archipelago that contained a number of city- states, such as Athens and Sparta, and were ruled by Ephors. Greece has a very mountainous terrain, with only 20% of arable land. Greece also has irregular coastlines that enhance their ability to trade. The contributions of classical Greece benefit Western civilization greatly because of the creation of democracy, which provides citizens with a voice, and the philosophies taught by Socrates and Aristotle, which have shaped educational practices. Also, Euclid and other Greek mathematicians advanced dramatically in geometry, allowing for improvements...
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...is divided into four parts: Feasts, Desire, The Citizen, and The City. Within each part of the book, there are multiple sub-sections that go into depth about the particular section of each ‘chapter’. In Part I: Feasts, Davidson goes into some background of the ancient Greek culture of Athens, and their preferences of eating and drinking. In Part II: Desires, Davidson talks about the interactions between men and women, and the purchase and selling of sex. Also included in Courtesans and Fishcakes are multiple maps of Athens and ancient art work including pottery and paintings. Part III: The Citizen explains the characteristics of the different types of people that are living in Athens. Also explained in Part III is the economic situation as it relates to fish, drink, and sex. In Part IV: The City, Davidson brushes over the Politics and Society, Politics and Politicians, and the Tyranny and Revolution in ancient Greek culture. In his final section, Davidson explains the different classes in Athens by also explaining the way that politics affects society and politicians. Within each of these four parts, Davidson stays consistent with his thesis -- the desires of the ancient Greek culture of Athens. These thesis is highlighted on fish, wine, and sex; the three most important things in the Athenian culture. Davidson does a great job in bringing together each of his main arguments and making them all intertwine....
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...limited natural resources. The lack of natural resources and the difficulty of traveling by land caused the Ancient Greeks to depend more on the sea. Ancient Greece was surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea on three sides. Much of the land of Ancient Greece was linked by the sea and the sea also linked Ancient Greece to other societies. The Ancient Greeks became skilled sailors, fishermen, and tradesmen. The climate of Ancient Greece was moderate all year long and there was adequate rainfall. Due to the mild climate, Greek men spent much of their time outside where they discussed politics and the issues in their city-state, and attended outdoor events and sporting activities. This promoted citizen participation and strengthened their democracy and unity. “This was not a society that lived quietly behind closed doors” (“Ancient Greeks Order and Harmony” 27). Ancient Greeks spent much time outdoors where they were actively...
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...“Ancient Greece had the perfect democracy” Ancient Greece did not have a perfect democracy. They established the roots of democracy and most of their ideas were accurate, but it was still quite far from perfect. Their system showed signs of racism, sexism, imperialism and corruption. In ancient Greece, women, the poor, slaves, and tax defaulters were not allowed to vote as they were not considered citizens. Neither were those who didn’t have citizen parentage on both sides. Only Athenian males above the age of 18 had the right to vote. Even though the status of women was lower in Athens than it was in many Greek cities, women were still not able to vote anywhere. This is extremely sexist, as gender should not change someone’s rights and the way they are perceived. These days slavery is considered illegal in most countries, however in ancient Greece, it was acceptable to have slaves working for you. A key part in modern day democracy is the right to vote for everyone, including women, tax defaulters and the poor. It can easily be said that their politics were more like an exclusive gentleman’s club then a democracy. Ancient Greek democracy can be described as being minoritarian, where a minority of the population (e.g. the male population) is eligible to a certain degree of dominance in society and has the right to make decisions that affect the entire society. Equality and freedom are both valued concepts of democracy, and if these concepts were not in place in ancient Greece...
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...Although sometimes you want to expand your knowledge on certain things and I thought that’d be great for Greece. In this essay I will hit key points like the beautiful Greek geography and how it affected trade, some politics and how the government and religion played a part in life, and the periods and mighty wars fought. hopefully i will succeed in this essay and get a good grade. The purpose of this essay is to provide informational facts on ancient greek civilization/culture and give the reader a sense of how it was then. Enjoy. My background knowledge about ancient Greece is that good. From movies I've seen that Greece had some type of problem with Persia. Im not sure what the problem was but i know it was two major city-states/ empires, Athens and Sparta. I know the one army fought on land & the the other on ships in water. I also know that europe is known for wine and oil so i would like to know if those are some resources Adding that I did know that Greece was surrounded by water so I wonder how that affected the crops? Well to continue on I’d like to answer some of my questions and get to know this cool place a little better. Let’s begin. Greece is the South Eastern region on the European continent. It is defined by a series of mountains, surrounded on all sides except the north by water, and had countless amounts of large and small islands. The Ionian and Aegean seas along with the many deep bays and natural harbors along the coast lines allowed the Greeks to progress...
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...While Sparta and Athens had many similarities and differences, Sparta is better than Athens in military strategy, education and women's rights. Sparta had a much better military compared to Athens, and had the best military in the entirety of the Ancient Greek city-states. Sparta also gave more rights to women than any other Greek city-state. This was because men were never present at home, and therefore women had much more power than in Athens and other Greek city-states. Women were also allowed to participate in sports, and were treated as equal to men. Spartan women were educated and literate. Spartans believed that for a baby to be strong and healthy, the mother must be as well. In Athens, however, women were kept at home and had no rights. Education in Sparta was heavily centered around fitness and training, and began in youth. Education in Sparta began around 7 years old with boys being sent to army barracks to be taught military tactics and strategy. They were not given shoes or other clothes and instead were given only a cloak, and were given little food, requiring them to either steal or learn to survive. Women also at age 7 were literate, and had athletic ability and survival skills, similar to men. They were...
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...Comparing Athens and Sparta: Where Would You Rather Live, and Why? Source: PBS.org | ATHENS | SPARTA | Population & Map | Approximately 140,000; Approximately 40,000 men were citizens; and slaves (about 40,000). By 432 BC, Athens had become the most populous city-state in Hellas. In Athens and Attica, there were at least 150,000 Athenians, around 50,000 aliens, and more than 100,000 slaves. | Approximately 8,000 Spartiates (adult male citizens) ruled over a population of 100,000 enslaved and semi-enslaved people. | Government & Political organizations | Athenian GovernmentUsually classified as a "direct democracy" (because everyone, not just politicians attended the Assembly), Athens claims to be the "birthplace of democracy".Elected officials including 10 generals (strategos), magistrates (archons), and others.Council of 500 was charged with administering decisions made by the Assembly.The Assembly open to all citizens (all citizens were eligible to attend such meetings and speak up). They passed laws and made policy decisions. The Assembly met on the Hill of the Pnyx at the foot of the Acropolis.During time of Pericles citizens were paid for jury service so not only the wealthy could participate.Women did not participate in the political life of Athens. | Spartan Government:Usually classified as an "oligarchy" (rule by a few), but it had elements of monarchy (rule by kings), democracy (through the election of council/senators), and aristocracy (rule by the...
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